Lesson 2 New product development

OPEN YOUR LEARNING BLOG

In this lesson you are going to get a flavour of what it means to develop a successful app product. You are going to understand key lessons from those who have done it before.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

You will learn to:

Identify some of the key challenges with app development

Describe the team rapid prototyping

Practise wireframing a phone app

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T0vt3nLZKks

Downlaod the Google App called Mockups.me.

TASK 1

Watch the video called 'New Product Development Starter' about students who have experienced apps for good and note the key lessons that have been learnt in your in your learning blog.

http://www.appsforgood.org/educator/delivery/crash-course-in-app-development/intro-new-product-dev

RAPID PROTOTYPING

As a class let's watch the following short YouTube video:

This video gives a simple overview of the features of a mockup for a web page.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vXLDqaH9vkE

This video describes the term wire framing but is some detail and you may want to watch it separately 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T0vt3nLZKks

TASK 2

Working in teams (one pair andone three) attempt to rapid prototype one of your favourite apps by recreating it using mockups.me. 

Include a link to a screen dumps of the mock up in your blog.  You may want to do this by opening a Google doc to record your  work and putting the link into your blog.

TASK 3

Complete the app critique exercise - you almost certainly need to do this as part of your homework. This should take about ten minutes and will show you how to critically analyse the former Apps for Good competition winner apps.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&srcid=0ByGWyKe-Ivm7eGVHT2pCN28xS2c

In your learning blog make sure that you have listed three things that you would for differently with your product

HOMEWORK

1. Make sure that you have finished the rapid prototyping exercise and have got evidence of this in your learning blog.  Be sure to say who your partners were.

2. Complete the App Critique exercise and make sure that it is written up in your learning blog.

Final Task 

For today's lesson write a post about what you have learnt today and the progress you have made.

Introduction

Welcome to our first APPS FOR GOOD lesson in the new subject area of Creative Technologies.  Both Y8 and Y9 will be following this course. You will have the opportunity to design a real telephone app which we may enter in a national competition and ultimately might be sold to members of the public. You will work in teams and will not only learn how to develop and make an app but also how it should be marketed.  This is a new and exciting 'creative' project.  I hope you will have lots of fun and learn some new skills which will help in the future.

SEATING PLAN

Some of you will be expecting - I guess even looking forward - to the traditional seating plan.  We are going to have one but we can't do it until we have sorted out what team you are going to work in.  This will be after next lesson.

TASK 1

You are going to create a learning blog where you will record what you have learned in each lesson, links to Google Docs containing your homework and where you will receive feedback.  This will in effect be a diary of your input into this project. 

TASK 2

Go to the following link and look at the apps which were prize winners at the 2014 National Final:

http://www.appsforgood.org/public/awards/2014

RESOURCES AND COURSE FRAMEWORK

You will be given access to a range of resources under the topic headings below.  We will not cover everything in or carousel and you will have to make use of homework time and our PHONE APP CLUB. Which will meet on Wednesday lunchtime.

M1 Crash Course

M2 Idea generation and screening

M3 Scoping

M4 Product development

M5 Pitch and beyond

TEAMWORK

Begin to think about who you would like to work with in your team.  JUST GOING WITH YOUR FRIENDS might be a bad idea as you will need people who have a wide a range of skills and abilities.

HOMEWORK

Make sure that you have sent a link to your learning blog by way of a reply to this posting.  it would be helpful if you would title your post:

8X1 David Bowie

Lesson 7 SHOWCASE

OPEN YOUR LEARNING BLOG

In this lesson you will look at what others have achieved and make improvements to your apps

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

You will learn:

To reflect on the app you have made and to identify improvements

TASK 1

Teams pair up and showcase apps.  Discuss with each othe rays of improving your apps and make improvements.

CLASS ACTIVITY

Two or three apps will be showcased to the whole class using the whiteboard.  Try to identify the technical factors which make these apps work e.g. Buttons are colourful and clearly labelled optimising the user experience.

Final Task 

For today's lesson write a post about what you have learnt today and the progress you have made.

Lesson 6 App Inventor Practise

OPEN YOUR LEARNING BLOG

To give teams practical experience of solving technical challenges and building an app that makes use of native features of the phone.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

You will learn:

To make a basic phone app using App Inventor

LESSON TASK

You need to complete at least one of the App Inventor tutorials. Showcase your work in your Learning Blog.  You should each complete at least one of:

Talk to me

Ball bounce

Digital doodle

You will need to,open a Google doc and show case your code and output.

http://appinventor.mit.edu/explore/ai2/beginner-videos.html

Extension

Try the intermediate tutorials at:

http://appinventor.mit.edu/explore/ai2/tutorials.html

HOMEWORK

Continue with tutorials at home and prepare to demo what you achieved in next lesson

Final Task 

For today's lesson write a post about what you have learnt today and the progress you have made.

Lesson 5 Organising ideas

OPEN YOUR LEARNING BLOG

To be able to effectively solve a problem with an app you need to understand the story behind it. Here teams will map and sequence their problems to discover the problem story.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

You will learn to:

Describe the term problem mapping

STARTER

Experience the importance of problem mapping with the organising ideas starter video

http://www.appsforgood.org/educator/delivery/idea-generation/organising-and-refining-ideas

TASK 1 (vex Factor or the 5 W's (25 mins)

Using either the Vex Factor or 5Ws exercise teams should aim to map,at least 5 problems.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&srcid=0ByGWyKe-Ivm7MkZma0stYVA0Q1U

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&srcid=0ByGWyKe-Ivm7MjFmQ2thMmY4Wnc

ROLE PLAY (30 mins)

After you have mapped the sequence of each problem you should quickly role play each one using the Role Play activity sheet. This needs to be done quickly because if you can't role play a problem in less than 5 minutes, then the problem is too complex.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&srcid=0ByGWyKe-Ivm7T1MwWjItMEtyNzg

HOMEWORK

Each student should try to speak to one person who is affected by one of the problems that team has identified to check if the sequence is correct.

 

FINAL TASK

For today's lesson write a post about what you have learnt today and the progress you have made.

Lesson 4 Coming up with ideas

OPEN YOUR LEARNING BLOG

The purpose of today's lesson is to come up with a list of potential problems to solve that you can develop an app for.  This should be based on your passions, interests and daily routines.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

You will learn to:

Decompose problems into smaller components

Consider solutions to everyday problems

STARTER (5 mins)

Outline where good ideas come from using the 'Coming Up with ideas video. Add this to your Learning Blog.

http://www.appsforgood.org/educator/delivery/idea-generation/coming-up-with-ideas

TASK 1 (Brainwriting 40mins)

This brainstorming exercise will help teams start sharing their interests and discovering problems associated with them.  Teams should summarise the problems they unearth in one sentence and categorise these by topic/area. Record in your Learning Blog.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&srcid=0ByGWyKe-Ivm7M3VvOC1Sc1Zxdjg

TASK 2 (Average bad day 15 mins)

In this activity you will discuss and draw out all the potential problems that students face on a daily basis.  Teams should capture all the problems they unearth as a one sentence description, categorised by area. Record in your Learning Blog.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&srcid=0ByGWyKe-Ivm7bm1aVzBFS3BzRFk

HOMEWORK

Interview friends and family about problems that they face.

 Final Task 

For today's lesson write a post about what you have learnt today and the progress you have made.

Lesson 3 Learn the basics (technical tier one) + team building

OPEN YOUR LEARNING BLOG

MAKE SURE THAT EACH OF YOU HAS A PEN AND PAPER FOR THIS LESSON

In this lesson you will be introduced to computational thinking and will be given a practical taster behind the logic of giving a computer instructions.  Your teams will also set out how they want to work together before starting on their own project.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

You will learn:

To describe the term algorithm

To think computationally to correctbinstructions to make a programme work more effectively

To describe the challenges of working in teams

TASK 1 (Algorithm Game -15mins)

Use this simple game to highlight the nature of giving computers instructions. In pairs read a set of instructions to draw a shape, you then reveal what the shape is meant to be and compare with yourpartner's shape.  You may find that some are way off, if so work out how you can improve the instruction or algorithm to make it more specific.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&srcid=0ByGWyKe-Ivm7QU9ZUnBQY05JUEU

TASK 2 (BLockly Maze - 30mins)

In this online game you will fit blocks of JavaScript together (very much like MITScratch) and use logic to guide a stick person around a series of mazes.  Try it yourself or use the cheat sheet as a guide.

Extension - Find the reveal JavaScript code behind the blocks

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&srcid=0ByGWyKe-Ivm7X3ZOb09GMG9LSTQ

TASK 3 (Co-founder team agreement 15 mins)

in your team look at the co-founder agreement and the team jobs document and decide how you would like to work together. All members of the team need to agree and sign before moving to the next stage.

HOMEWORK

1. Complete co-founder agreement and post link to this blog post.  YOU CANNOT PROCEED TO THE NEXT STAGE UNTIL YOU HAVE DONE THIS

2. In your teams think about two or three possibilities for an app

3. Watch the App Inventor video

http://appinventor.mit.edu/explore/ai2/beginner-videos.html

Final Task 

For today's lesson write a post about what you have learnt today and the progress you have made.

Lesson 1Launch and Team Building

OPEN YOUR LEARNING BLOG

in today's lesson we are going to start our crash course in phone apps. You will get an understanding of the type of apps you could make and how you could work together as a team.  

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

You will learn to:

Describe different types of phone apps

Describe what it means to work together in a team

TASK 1

If you haven't already sorted yourself into teams do so now and one of you reply to this post with the following information:

A) Your team name

B) The first and last names of your team members

REMEMBER YOUR TEAMS MUST HAVE NO LESS THAN 3 MEMBERS AND NO MORE THAN 5.  

CLASS ACTIVITY

Let's look at the following video about APPS FOR GOOD.  I will get get you thinking about what YOU can get out of the process. Try to identify the problem that the team tried to solve and sk yourself whether or not it was an effective solution.

http://www.appsforgood.org/educator/delivery/crash-course-in-app-development/launch

TEAM ROLES

The team roles activity will get students thinking about what role they might be best suited for and what role they are most keen to try out.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&srcid=0ByGWyKe-Ivm7SkVuUldTOUExY2s. You need to save this in your area.

CLASS ACTIVITY

Let's look at different types of APPS.

http://www.appsforgood.org/educator/delivery/crash-course-in-app-development/launch

Try to decide which category of app you would like to work on.

Final Task 

For today's lesson write a post about what you have learnt today and the progress you have made.

8Y3 Phone App Project

Phone App Project

Please reply to this post with a link to your phone app project document. Also, please add comments:

1. What did you learn in this project? (Name two things: )

2. How do you think you could turn your design into a working app?

3. Do you think it would sell and if so why?

8Y2 Phone App Project

Phone App Project

Please reply to this post with a link to your phone app project document. Also, please add comments:

1. What did you learn in this project? (Name two things: )

2. How do you think you could turn your design into a working app?

3. Do you think it would sell and if so why?